SRSO: Mother buying alcohol for party leads to sexual assault by son

AARON LITTLE|PRESS GAZETTE

Friday

Apr 11, 2014 at 12:01 AMApr 11, 2014 at 8:23 AM

According to Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office reports, deputies arrested Bryant Nichols Watson, 17, for sexual assault of a victim 12 years of age or older with special conditions, and his mother, Chrisheyl Bryant Watson, 40 for neglect child without great bodily harm and two counts of contributing delinquency of a minor. Reports said Chrisheyl Watson purchased alcohol for an open house party celebrating for a weightlifting team at her house and allowed the several minors in attendance to drink. During the evening of the party, Bryant Watson was accused of sexual assault of a juvenile, according to reports.

The victim went with Chrisheyl and others to Panera Bread in Fort Walton for dinner and afterwards went to Wal-Mart where Chrisheyl bought three bottles of alcohol, according to reports. The victim said everyone at the party began drinking and Chrisheyl was aware of it and hanging around them all. Reports said, the victim drank so much, the last thing she remembered she was outside sitting at the bonfire and later woke up alone in Bryant's bedroom. Deputies said she woke up about 7 a.m. naked and hurting and realized she had been raped, but after she put her clothes back on she fell back asleep still very intoxicated. Reports said she woke up again around 11 a.m., called for a ride, and left the residence. Several text messages passed between the victim and Bryant's phones discussing the assault and how hurt the victim was about it.

According to the reports, Bryant's own statement said he had intercourse with the victim who was extremely intoxicated. Reports also said the encounter was not consensual and the victim was unable to resist due to the level of intoxication.

A deputy went to the Wal-Mart in Navarre and spoke with the Asset Protection Personnel. There, the deputy obtained surveillance footage from the liquor store section around 7:30 p.m. According to reports, a witness identified a white female in the video as Chrisheyl, who purchased Malibu Liquor, Dkypr Schnapps, and Fireball.

According to the report, the deputy told Chrisheyl he understood to a degree her notion of ‘Well, they are going to drink anyway. I'd rather them be at home when they do it.’ However, he also said, "The only problem with that notion in this case is that something bad happened to someone." The deputy asked Chrisheyl if she bought some of the alcohol for the juveniles at the party, who acknowledged the statement was correct. Chrisheyl said she did not see how this could have happened without anyone knowing it was going on, reports said. According to the reports, Chrisheyl was responsible for the victim's safety and well-being while spending the night at her house and failed to provide adequate care and supervision.

The sheriff's office booked Bryant on March 24 and transported him to JDD in Pensacola and arrested Chrisheyl on April 3 and released her on a $9500 bond.